Record 34M Americans Use Food Stamps

About 600K people a month have been added recently
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 8, 2009 5:35 PM CDT
Record 34M Americans Use Food Stamps
A woman fills out a form at the Sacramento county welfare office.    (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

The number of people receiving food stamps surged by 1.2 million people in March and April to a record 33.8 million Americans, Reuters reports. Roughly one in nine US citizens were enrolled in the program in April, the most recent stats available. That marks five straight months of record enrollments. The stimulus package has temporarily increased the average food-stamp benefit by $40 to $133.
(More food stamps stories.)

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